in purrpetuity

Description

     In Purrpetuity is a single-player puzzle RPG following Luna, the protagonist, as she revisits her childhood home to save her three cats, who send her into a nostalgic spiral of soul-searching and introspection. 

The game has two possible endings and takes 20 minutes or less to beat.

Objectives

• Capture cats by solving puzzles! 
• Interact with objects to uncover the narrative! 
• Talk with Kit to delve deeper into her and Luna's relationship! 

Controls

Move	Interact	Menu/Inventory
arrow keys	Enter	Esc

Luna & Kit

         Luna and Kit are the two main characters of the game, but were created years before In Purrpetuity’s conception. The Bonnie and Clyde-inspired duo were originally designed to be eccentric guns for hire. In a way, this makes them distinctive because they were not designed with a video game genre in mind and thus possess traits that contrast with those of a usual puzzle RPG’s protagonist. Of course, they underwent a bit of a design overhaul to better fit the setting better, but many elements of their original designs remain and work in tandem with narrative beats. At the end of battles, for example, a dialogue box reflects Luna’s inner conflict towards her violent tendencies, saying either “Your own strength frightens you” if you win or “One less casualty to haunt your dreams” if you lose.

About the Game Development

          In Purrpetuity was created in 15 days as my final project for IMS 212 at Miami University. I started off by brainstorming possible game mechanics, creating pixel art assets, writing snippets of dialogue to set a somber mood, and experimenting with music on beginner-friendly websites like BandLab and onemotion.com. From there, I got into the flow of level design in-engine (RPG Maker 2003) and discovered what from my batch of ideas would be feasible and what would be cut.  I playtested the game by myself throughout the entire process but conducted formal playtesting about 2/3 of the way through development with more playtesting done post-"completion." Finally, I revised the game to include what I learned from the players' feedback. 

Download the Game Design Document here!

Last updated January 2024.